The Incomplete Prototype

Only then did Bennett exhale a slow breath and glance back at Kyle.

"How did you get across?"

"I saw a ventilation duct up there and decided to give it a shot."

Sure enough, a grate in the ceiling hung open. Bennett had no idea such an avenue even existed.

"Did you deal with all the mercenaries?"

"Yes. Edgar is far too heavy for a crawl like that, so I came over alone first. The situation looked rather urgent."

"Thank you."

Kyle blinked in mild surprise, then broke into a bright grin. "Don't mention it."

"Let's search the interior first. We need to get that door open and pack up whatever's worth taking."

"Before that, please, drink this."

The aftermath of the violent clash had left the laboratory in utter shambles. Bennett took the healing potion Kyle offered, downed it in a single gulp, and began surveying the perimeter. As his gaze swept across the shadows, he reflexively raised Shooting Star.

"I-I surrender! I surrender!"

"...?"

A man who had been cowering in the corner threw his hands high in the air for all to see. To prove he harbored no hostility, he even spun around on the spot like a frightened animal.

"Who are you?" Bennett demanded.

"I-I am Marco! That old wizard dragged me here against my will!"

Noticing the enchanted slave collar locked around the man's throat, Bennett lowered the repeating crossbow. "How did you end up being dragged along?"

"I am a dungeon scholar, you see... but I ended up borrowing money from that old bastard, and..."

"A dungeon scholar?"

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

They were researchers who specialized in delving into the mysteries of the dungeons—inquisitive minds who studied the languages, illustrations, cultures, and myriad lost lore of the dimensional ruins.

"Then releasing the zombies from their cells was..."

Marco shut his eyes tight and threw himself flat onto the floor. "I-I didn't want to do it either! B-But this damned collar left me no choice...!"

Catching sight of the wet patch staining the man's groin, Bennett pieced together the situation with little effort.

"Fine, I understand. Get up."

"Y-Yes, sir..."

"Can you open that blast door over there?"

"Of course! Right away!"

Marco scrambled to his feet, rushed to the control panel, and began rapidly tapping away at the console.

Psssshh!

The heavy, locked double doors hissed and slid apart once more.

On the other side, Edgar had been busy rummaging through the corpses of the dead mercenaries. He straightened up with a relieved look.

"A-Are you all right?"

"I'm fine."

Edgar's eyes fell on Rose's corpse, slumped forward on her knees with her head hung low, and he clicked his tongue in disgust.

"Crazy bitch. Brought this right onto herself."

He kicked the corpse, sending it toppling onto its back. A thick ribbon of crimson still trailed from the hole between her brows, staining the side of her nose.

"Mr. Marco."

"Yes!"

"Do you know what kind of facility this is?"

"N-Not completely, but I have a general idea."

"Let's hear it."

"It appears to be a laboratory that was operated in total secrecy..."

The concept of a 'laboratory' was something foreign to the continent, but the scholar's explanation gave Bennett enough context to grasp the gist of it.

"If you step further inside, you will see for yourself, but..."

"Huuuueeegh!"

Edgar, who had wandered ahead into the inner chamber, came stumbling back out while violently retching.

Startled, Bennett and Kyle hurried inside. The moment they crossed the threshold, their hands flew up to cover their mouths.

Lining the colossal hall were endless rows of towering glass cylinders.

Inside every single vat, submerged in murky preservation fluid, floated human corpses.

Their conditions varied wildly. A few retained relatively intact forms, but the overwhelming majority had shriveled into gaunt, desiccated mummies or mutated into horrifying, globular lumps of fleshy horror.

"...The core subject of their research was the synthesis of an elixir of immortality," Marco explained in a trembling voice. "And to achieve that, they extracted the human 'essence.'"

"An elixir of immortality?"

Did such a thing truly exist—or did these people honestly believe it could be manufactured? Back home, high-ranking knights and supreme archmages could extend their lifespans as they reached higher realms of power, but genuine immortality remained an impossibility.

"Then what is this 'essence' you speak of?"

"Regarding that part... it is written in Dungeon Language that I have yet to decipher. I am terribly sorry."

A mad world indeed, Bennett thought grimly.

"Did that wizard find anything else?"

"Ah, yes." Marco swung his backpack around to his chest. "There was a sort of vault deeper inside, and he took this out of it. He ordered me to keep it safe, so I've just been holding onto it."

When Marco pulled the object from the pack, Bennett flinched.

This is...

It looked identical to the item he had retrieved from the medical clinic—the very artifact he had been instructed to take in secret.

"...I will hold onto this for now," Bennett said, taking it. "Was there anything else?"

"There was an identification card of some sort."

The card Marco handed over looked noticeably different from the one Bennett had pocketed earlier.

Bennett pulled out the Ministry of Justice identification card he had scavenged earlier.

"What is the difference between this and that?"

"Ah... the one in your hand, Bennett-nim, belongs to a government bureaucrat, while the one I gave you belongs to the private organization that operated this facility."

"I used this bureaucrat's card to unlock the secret door in the solitary confinement block."

"Is that so? In that case, it is very likely that the government of this world and Guseong Bio were working in deep cooperation. Oh, and one more ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠thing! The prison itself is also said to have been operated by this conglomerate called Guseong."

Having satisfied most of his curiosities, Bennett nodded. "We still have spoils to gather, so sit down and rest for a bit. If possible, I will remove that slave collar for you as well."

"T-Thank you so much!"

Leaving Marco to sit where he could keep an eye on him, Bennett approached the corpse of the wizard, Fredrik. The old man's eyes were still wide open in an expression of sheer disbelief. The staff he had dropped was far superior to the one his apprentice had carried.

A quick search yielded a few mana potions tailored for mages, several standard healing potions, and a handful of miscellaneous magical trinkets.

The greatest harvest, however, was the pouch hanging at the old man's waist.

At a glance, it looked like an ordinary leather bag, but in truth, it was an enchanted Sub-space Pouch woven with spatial expansion magic. A mana-pattern lock was sealed onto it, making it impossible to check the contents on the spot, but Bennett was thoroughly satisfied nonetheless.

I can always crack it open once we get outside.

Continuing his search through Fredrik's robes, Bennett's fingers brushed against something small. He retrieved it at once. It was a modest pendant that resembled ordinary jewelry, but its true identity was the remote controller for the slave collar.

The moment Bennett pressed down firmly on the central gem, the metal collar around Marco's neck clicked and fell away, clattering to the floor.

"F-Freedom! I'm free!"

Leaving Marco to celebrate his newfound liberty, Bennett turned his attention to Rose's remains.

With a crossbow bolt lodged between her brows, her face was contorted ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in sheer humiliation, dried tear tracks still stark against her pale cheeks.

Time to strip the armor.

Doffing a full suit of plate armor from a corpse ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was no simple task. He had to yank out the bolts driven into her limbs first, then undo the clasps and buckles connecting each plate section by section. It was never an outfit designed to be put on or taken off easily, and the process took time.

Once all the steel plates were peeled away, she was left in a lightweight under-suit. It was less like everyday attire and more like a skin-tight garment designed for thermal regulation and unrestricted movement. It had little practical value to salvage, but Bennett stripped it away nonetheless; he needed to ensure nothing was hidden underneath.

A ring?

Sure enough, tucked against the inner lining of her breastplate, he discovered a ring. It looked somewhat weathered, engraved with an intricate crest. A family insignia, perhaps? Without knowing which noble house Rose had hailed from, there was no way to confirm.

He concluded his looting with Rose's sword. It looked like an ordinary blade, but a single-use offensive spell was sealed into its steel. Even if it was only good for a single discharge, Bennett knew such enchanted weapons fetched a hefty price on the market. A faint, satisfied smile crossed his face.

"Mr. Marco? Could you carry this pack for a bit?"

"Right away, sir!"

Doooom—!

A resonant, solemn toll echoed directly within their minds.

"Let's move."

"Understood!"

Their escape this time proved remarkably smooth. Unlike the LT Department Store, there was no open exterior bathed intermittently in the dreadful Blue Light, nor were there any lurking traps or sudden Anomalies to contend with.

A momentary tension rippled through the air as several different parties arrived at the extraction point around the same time, but it dissipated just as quickly. The unidentified knight order they had spotted upon entering the dungeon stepped through the public portal first. With the fiercest contenders gone, the remaining parties took turns stepping into the gateway in orderly succession.

Step.

Planting his feet firmly on solid ground, Bennett took in his surroundings. He stood amidst the bustling crowd of scavengers fresh out of the portals and the hawking merchants vying for their business—the Pioneers' Hall.

"Greetings, scavengers! The Drake Family, one of the supreme rulers of the Dungeon City, has just founded a brand-new merchant company—"

Bennett's brow furrowed instantly. Without breaking stride, he walked right past the recruiter. Though momentarily taken aback by his cold dismissal, Kyle, Edgar, and Marco fell in behind him without a word.

When a representative from a different merchant guild hurried over, Bennett agreed to an appraisal without the slightest hesitation.

"Please take a seat and wait; we will process your spoils as swiftly as possible."

While awaiting the settlement of their haul, Bennett slid his hand into his coat pocket in silence.

His fingertips brushed against two metal capsules. Their size, texture, and shape were an exact, twin-like match.

As he turned them over in his palm, Bennett went still. The two capsules, pressed flush against each other, had begun to merge.

It was a silent, seamless fusion. The absorption took merely a fraction of a second, leaving behind only a single metal cylinder. Bennett slipped it out of his pocket to inspect it.

Nothing looks different.

The dimensions had not expanded, nor had any new markings appeared on its surface. Yet the floating system window appeared to see things quite differently.

Incomplete prototype... what?